The Secrets continue…

So this post is supposed to reveal “the secret” behind The Boy Next Door, my contribution to Secrets 27, Untamed Pleasures. The trouble is, it’s not really much of a secret.

In the fall of 2005 I had the following conversation with my roommate John over dinner:

Hannah: “I’m going to a bondage convention in a few weeks.”

John: “You’re such a perv.”

Hannah: “It’s for research!”

John: “Honey, try telling that to someone who doesn’t see what kind of mail you get.”

Okay, I’ll admit that I had some personal interest in the subject. It was well known among my friends and associates that reading kinky romances was a favorite past time of mine, and at that stage of my career I had also written one. It was also well known that I tend to gear my stories to things I’m personally interested in, so his assumption that I was going to this convention to do more than take notes wasn’t exactly a shot in the dark. But I really did have a greater purpose – to learn more about rope bondage. Oh, I’d heard of it of course, and seen it in photographs, and had on a few occasions experienced the joy that a set of standard issue handcuffs can bring to a romantic encounter. But I’d never been in contact with actual bondage rope before – rope created and intended for the express purpose of tying up a lover – and that’s what I was looking for.

And boy howdy, did I find it! It was all over the place that weekend – tied up in neat little bundles, strewn across the floor in a discarded heap, and more often than not wrapped around the hands, feet, arms, legs or torso of one of my fellow conventioneers. It didn’t take long for me to find someone who was willing to wrap some of it around me (in a mostly PG-13 fashion) so I could find the answer to my one big question: What’s so special about rope?

The answer? It’s impossible to tie someone up without touching them. You can handcuff someone with a bare minimum of flesh on flesh contact, but you can’t use rope without becoming intimately acquainted with your partner’s body. When someone is tying you up, whether they’re just tying your wrists to the headboard or doing something much more intricate and restraining, their hands are all over you. Testing the tightness of the tie, gauging how your flesh is being compressed, judging the amount of tension necessary to keep you where they want you. The rope becomes an extension of your lover’s hands, so a caress that would last mere seconds is extended through the length of rope laid across a breast, or wrapped around a thigh. It stays with you, snug around you like the arms of a second lover – and it frees the first lover up to do all sorts of fun things.

THAT is what’s so special about rope, and learning that, boys and girls, was like a lightning bolt to the brain. I knew then that The Boy Next Door would be my next project….but first I went to the vendor area and bought some rope of my own.

Hey, research is important!

~Hannah

An excerpt of The Boy Next Door is available at Hannah’s website (www.hannahmurray.net), as well as a chance to win some bondage rope of your own! Check out her contest (www.hannahmurray.net/contest.html) for a chance to win a Curiosity Kit from TwistedMonk.com, maker of the world’s finest hemp bondage rope.

Thanks Hannah!

Readers, be sure to leave a comment to win this week’s fabulous prize. Details are here.

And be sure to check back tomorrow as Liane Gentry Skye reveals her secrets.

Actually, plain old cotton clothesline works just as well as the fancy-shmancy hemp stuff they sell “for bondage.” Just be sure to wash it in really hot water so the sizing washes out and it gets nice and soft.

And if you’re ever in Denver and would like to get tied up again, well, you have my e-mail address.

You know, I’ve had cotton, I’ve had synthetic, I’ve had hemp…and I really prefer the hemp. I think it’s got more bite (for those who might read this and not know what that means, “bite” refers to the way the rope locks down on itself when tied into a knot – prevents slipping and knot tightening, which can be dangerous), and even though the hemp I use (www.twistedmonk.com) is conditioned to be soft and pliable, I like the slightly rougher texture. I’m just that kind of girl. 😉

Health issues preclude bondage in this lifetime, but I’d like to think anything worth doing is worth doing right. There is a certain ritual of anticipation in choosing sexual accessories, irregardless if you’re shopping at the local hardware store or custom ordering. Just remember that becoming a legend in local emergency services can ruin more than just the mood.
I’m so looking forward to these books. *VBG*

Bookdragon3: I’m so sorry to hear about your health issues! I’d be curious to know more, as I know a lot of people with severe health conditions and disabilities who’ve managed to find a way around them to enjoy rope bondage. But you’re right…knowing your limitations is a very important first step.

Enjoy them? Just kidding…seriously, for the most part it’s not a problem. Rope burn only happens if the rope is dragged across your skin too fast, and thankfully the person who ties me up is considerate enough not to do that! Sometimes if one wiggles around a lot there can be some chaffing, but it’s nothing – doesn’t even require first aid.

I’ve been mulling over your post for a few days. Your explanation as to why bondage is popular and erotic intrigued me. My friend is in to the hard core stuff (she has a mini-dungeon) and I just don’t get some of it. I’m passing on your post to her to see if she feels the same way. Thank you for some interesting thought-fodder for a few days!

There are extremes in any culture, of course. Some people like the occasional comic book, and some people collect them, go to conventions, and dress up as their favorite characters. It’s the same with kink – just because you’re into one thing doesn’t mean you have to be in to all of them, and people are draw to it for different reasons. No one reason is better than the others – as long as you’re smart about it, vigilant about your safety and that of your partner, then I say have fun.

Hi Hannah! Hannah, too with my surgeries related to my pelvic, female organs, cervix, etc too prevents me from using those too but when having a wonderful relationship with a hero, there’s always a way!

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